losing sleep is bad.

we use the most up-to-date information when treating patients. we counsel them about nutrition, exercise, adequate sleep, and abstaining from too much alcohol.

and yet, the medical training system is based on the tenets that doctors should function without sleep or food or be labeled as 'weak.'

same goes for seeking help for ( Read more... )

we're in week 2 of our infectious disease sequence (which is, by far, the best-organized we've had so far).

we started with respiratory infections (rhinovirus, RSV, coronavirus, Strep pneumoniae, Legionella, influenza etc etc etc) and have moved to skin bugs and the diseases they cause (abscesses, necrotizing fasciitis, endocarditis, bone and muscle ( Read more... )

this was today's schedule:
9-10: lecture on the prevalence of elderly adult/ vulnerable adult abuse
10-11: lecture on the prevalence of child abuse (complete with photos and real stories)
11-12: lecture on the prevalence of sexual assault and its effects on victims' lives
1-3: lecture on the tuskegee study

we did finish with two hours of brief workshops ( Read more... )

there are tiny bones in your middle ear that amplify sound coming in on the air. the air hits a drumlike surface called your tympanic membrane, which sets the bones moving. sounds create a piston-like action of the bones against another membrane into your inner ear, where the piston creates waves and amplifies the sound ( Read more... )

your random fact for the day: 'borborygmi' is a legitimate medical term, describing abnormal bowel sounds in the initial stages of acute obstruction.

tomorrow i learn how to do abdominal exam. reading about normal bowel sounds and auscultation of the liver, i pull out my stethoscope to listen to my own tummy.
conclusions: i cannot find my liver. my ( Read more... )

frozen people at grand central station

yesterday i shadowed at the Whitmore Lake Health Clinic. it was pretty neat, Dr. T let me do very brief interivews ("What brings you in today?") and presentations to her (Mrs. H presents with a cold of one weeks duration.... "). it's harder than you might think, even for a simple thing like a cold:

- - - - - -
how long have you had this cold?  how ( Read more... )

the electricity browned out right before 10 tonight then died completely ( Read more... )

another exam passed
another sequence begun:
endocrinology/reproduction

your strange fact for the day: the typical [edit: pair of] human testicle contains more than 250 METERS of ducts.

weird.

today i learned whyy it's baaaad to take tylenol (acetominophen) before, during, or after drinking. see, tylenol is metabolized by several pathways. the easiest pathways happen quickly, and at low drug levels they turn almost all of the tylenol into harmless compounds with no problem.

there is another metabolic pathway, however, that involves an ( Read more... )